Notes
by an obsession too far
Summary: MWPP. History of magic is boring. so they pass notes. SBRL. AN some of it is ment ot be in bold but isnt, sorry I tried but my computer is going blah! Rating changed for language used in later chapters.
1. Notes

A/N set in a Friday afternoon's History of Magic lesson, marauders 5th year. SBRL.

History of magic was boring. Dead boring. Which wasn't too surprising as it was taught, well, by someone who was, in fact, dead. All of the marauders hated this lesson, yes including Remus, and they, most of the class in fact, were passing notes. Actually, only Remus and Lily Evans were taking the occasional note of what was being taught.

Sirius was talking to James through notes being passed across the two boys. (A/N _italics is Sirius _**bold is James**)

_You know?_

Of course I know, you basically LIVE with me But, I never talk about it…at all 

**Sirius, as I said, I LIVE with you, I know all of your traits. So, therefore, I can easily see when you are staring at Moony's arse when you think no one is looking, _and_ when you get all fussed and jittery on the full moon.**

_Does anyone else know?_

Please, if Moony knew he would have talked to you about it, and Wormatil isn't the brightest bulb in the box…

_Good point._

**So, when are you gonna tell him?**

_WHAT?! I can't tell him, what will he think? He'd never speak to me again, you know how his mum is with, well, _things_…_

**But I don't think Moony's like that…**

_But you cant be sure…_

**What if I could be?**

_But you can't…well not without talking to him about it…oh DON'T talk to him about it!!!_

God Pads, you sound like a little girl! Anyway, I still think you should tell him. What's the worst that could happen?

_He's disgusted at me, tells me to piss off, never talks to me again, tells the whole school and makes fun of me forever…_

Umm, Sirius, I think your forgetting that it MOONY we're talking about. Is he really that mean? Thought not. The worst he would do is say he doesn't feel the same way, maybe he'd be a bit uncomfortable for a while, but he'd get over it!

Just then the bell went, cutting off Sirius' reply. James really wanted to carry on the conversation, and try to convince his best mate just to come out and tell Moony, but they didn't have any more lessons that day, and he knew that they wouldn't get a moment alone until Monday, so he kept quiet, and led the way to the common room to drop off their bags before dinner.


	2. Sirius thinks

It had only been 50 minutes since their last lesson of the day, but to Sirius, it felt like a week, a week of agonising thoughts involving him telling Remus how he felt. Obviously, all of these were worst-case scenarios (A/N as anyone who has had to tell someone what they really think knows).

The marauders were sitting at the Griffindor table, as they normally did. James was talking about quidditch to Peter, though really watching Lily Evans out of the corner of his eye. Sirius had never understood the fascination. 'But,' Sirius thought to himself, 'James never understood my Moony fascination either'.

No matter what he tried, he couldn't forget the fact that he was in love with one of his best friends, now especially. Someone was jogging him from across the table.

"Hello? Earth to Padfoot!"

"Huh, what?" Sirius asked, trying to shake the thoughts out of his head.

"You all right?" asked Remus, obviously worried.

"Err, yeah, just…lost in thoughts…" Remus looked to where Sirius had been gazing a moment before. There sat Channel Lonsdale, one of the most popular girls in Hogwarts, a sixth-year Ravenclaw.

"Ah." Said Moony, thinking that Sirius had a new fascination with the girl.

Sirius, realising this, decided to change the subject quickly before he had to explain anything. "So what were you saying?"

"I asked what you had planned for Snivillus?"

"What?"

"Well, I assume that was what you and Prongs were talking about in History of Magic…"

"Oh, yeah. We haven't got a proper plan yet, just a few ideas…"

"Well, let me know when you do."

"Okies."

Sirius returned to his mind. 'He thinks that I like _her._ he doesn't like me, he likes girls. Like any sane bloke.' he thought bitterly.

James had noticed Sirius' dark look, even if no one else could. Sometimes Sirius swore he could read minds.

"Hey, Pads, you wanna go for a fly?" James knew every mood Sirius had, he'd encountered each of them enough, he also knew that the only thing to calm his best friends dark moods was to either let him break something, or, in many cases, a lot of things, or take him for a fly.

"Yeah, sure." Was the answer, commonly short and blunt for this mood.

Once they had got to the quidditch pitch, James left Sirius alone, and flew a couple of laps, granting Sirius the freedom to take flight.

He sawed high. Higher than he ever had. He felt tears rolling down his cheeks for his love. For the family he was cursed with. For the friends he had. For the fear of losing them. For the joy of having such a brilliant friend as James, no _brother_ as James. But mostly, not for the knowledge that James was right, he would have to tell Moony, sooner or later, but for the fear of doing so.


	3. Plans

**_Sorry about the long time no chapter, but I'm coming up to my exams, so I have been revising and stuff...so yeah...enjoy..._**

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Sirius shook his head "No, no, that won't be good!" He said, exasperated, to his best friend and surrogate brother.

"Yeah, you're right, it is crap. How come we have NO ideas at the moment?" James replied, putting his hand over his face.

"Maybe 'cos I'm not meant to tell him how I feel, maybe I'm meant to keep quiet and not tell him anything..."

"SIRIUS!" James shouted "DO NOT GIVE ME _THAT_ AGAIN!"

"WELL WHAT THE HELL AM I MEANT TO DO?!!!" Sirius yelled back, kicking his trunk as he went. There was a loud crash and Sirius swore very loud.

"Oh for-here let me fix it" James said with a light smile playing at his lips. Sirius was always kicking things when he was angry, walls, tables, his trunk, and James was almost always the one to fix the broken bones. He sat Sirius down on the bed and looked at his foot "Episky"

"Cheers" Sirius grumbled.

"Don't give me that look Pads, you kicked the trunk" Sirius was looking disgruntled "anyway, what are we going to do about your little problem?"

"I don't know...umm...I've got to tell him. I know that...just HOW?"

"I dunno...let me thin-WAIT...I think I have an idea..." James was grinning like a fool...yes, he had an idea, and 'Plan get Sirius to ask out Remus and get them together' was going to benefit from this plan. Or so he hoped...


	4. Plan part one!

A/N sorry about the delay, but my gcse exams are drawing ever closer (as in im already doing them!) so i have to revise! but fanfiction comes as a great procrastinator!!! anywho. on with the story...

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"James I'm not sure…."

"Aw! Come on Pads, you want him to love you right?"

"well yeah, but your plan seems….well…crap…"

"Thanks! And people think you like me…." Sighed James.

"Get over yourself Prongs, and focus on the problem at hand"

"OK, well, you just have to do what I said. Step one of my wonderful, masterful brilliant plan…._create lust_. So, let him see you with your top off or something…"

"He always sees me without my top on. We live in the same dorm remember?!"

"oh, yeah, right. Umm…wet? OW Pads that hurt"

"Don't be a moron then!"

"Get a backbone" The rest of the conversation was lost in the wrestling that followed. Laughing like mad, they didn't even notice their dorm room door open, to reveal one Remus Lupin. Laughing. Very hard.

"Sorry to interrupt your fondling fun, but Lily wants to kill you Prongs…" Stopping abruptly, James stood,

"You know why?" Curious as to what he had done, they hadn't pulled any pranks in the last week…

"Something about you stealing the last of the chocolate in the kitchens last night…"

"Well, that wasn't my fault, you were cranky! But I bet I'm not allowed to tell her that am I?"

"Nope, so go meet your fate my friend" Sirius butted in with.

"At least keep the evil laugh until I'm gone!"

"No way in hell Jamesy!!! Mwahahaha!" With that, James stormed off to 'meet his fate'.

(A/N: Sirius' thoughts following…we only have his thoughts…) **Ok, just do what James said. Create lust. How? Ok, um…take my top off? Naah. It's too cold.**

"To do what?

"Huh?"

"You just said 'it's to cold'. To cold to do what?"

"Oh umm…" **Think quickly Sirius you idiot **"to play quidditch…" **Well done. Good cover.**

"Oh. But you've played in storms before, what's so bad about a slight chill?" **Or not.** "Anyway, I haven't seen you play in ages!"

"Umm…ok then. Let's go play quidditch!" Departing first, he did not notice the smile on Remus' face. A smile some would say to be dreamy, others happy, and those who really knew him, would say that it is the smile he shows when he gets something he really wants, but is trying to hide his extaticness (is that a word?).

Two hours later, Sirius and Remus returned to their dorm, soaking wet. It had started to rain just half an hour after they had arrived on the quidditch pitch, but neither cared until they were so soaked, the rain seemed dryer than them.

"God I'm freezing!" Said Sirius discarding his top, "I'm gonna have a nice hot shower!" He added, heading towards their bathroom.

"What? Oh, yeah. I'll dry off by the fire, then go in after you." Remus replied, sounding distant. It slightly worried Sirius, but he decided to let it slide for now, and take it up with him later.

Stepping in the shower, Sirius thought over the day. He had had fun, but he wished for so much more with Remus. He needed to talk to James again. He needed to find out the next part of the 'Wonderful, Masterful, Brilliant Plan to get Sirius and Remus together' (He reminded himself to talk to James about his naming of plans) even though he had not carried out the first point. Well, he thought he hadn't carried out the first point of this plan…

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	5. The next bit

Sorry about the loooong delay, but exams suck, ya know?!

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"So what you are trying to tell me," Said James, slowly, trying to make sense of the situation, "is that, even though you think my plan is stupid and won't work, you want me to tell you the rest of it, in case it does work, even though you are sure it won't, and you haven't even done the first bit of it?" 

"Exactly! I knew you'd get it!"

"You get weirder by the day Pads…weirder by the day…"

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I didn't mean it to be…" James muttered, knowing Sirius could still hear him. This was confirmed by the scowl and pout that had grown on Sirius' face (The only person EVER who could manage a scowl and a pout at the same time…) "Oh fine then!"

"Woohoo!"

"Alright. The next step is a hard one…I'm thinking, have a bit of an intimate moment, help him after that time of the month…or get a detention together or something, but DON'T DO ANYTHING! Not yet!!!"

"Sounds easy enough. But why don't I do anything? What if we both go in for it?"

"You don't want to scare him off do you?"

"Well no but-"

"Exactly! So listen to what I'm saying…go out. Act normal. Just wait for the time, but don't move forward. Trust me. It'll work."

"Fine…SHIT!"

"What?"

"Quidditch practise. IN TWO MINUTES!!!"

"Shite! Johnson is gonna kill us!"

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3 hours later the two boys returned, covered in mud, tired, and yet laughing like, well, like _maniacs_. And it was annoying. Oh so annoying. And they were NOT shutting up. So one Mr Remus Lupin had a great idea, being the great person he was with the great mind he had. 

"Oomph" Ah, the wonderful sound of a pillow hitting a manic laugher in the chest.

"What the hell was that for?" James asked, once he had caught his breath.

"For laughing too loud, I'm trying to read." Remus replied, not looking up from his book. A task he seemed to have mastered from their second year. This, of course, made Sirius (who had not been hit by a pillow) laugh even harder.

"Oomph. OWW PRONGS!"

"Its only fair!! I got hit, you get hit" James replied to Sirius' shout with simplicity. He was subsequently rugby tackled (don't ask me how they know rugby tackling) to the floor. They were so focused on the 'play-fighting' that they didn't even notice the dorm room door open, and a young redhead entered the room. Looking quizzically at the floor, she decided to ignore the two boys.

"Hey, Remus. Umm…we've got prefect duty remember?"

As soon as the boys had heard her voice, they stopped fighting, and leapt to their feet at once.

"Hey Evans" James said, looking sure of himself, and running a hand through his already messed up hair, "W-"

"No I will not go out with you. And stop running you hand through your hair like a prat" The teenager replied, snappishly. If she had looked closer at the raven-haired boy in front of her, she may have noticed the hurt look in his eye, but she didn't. It was gone in an instant anyway. Replaced with a hard stare, and a set jaw, as though he wished to retort, but was trying hard not to. Just as everyone thought it was about to slip out, like it usually did, someone else spoke.

"Yeah, I remember. Sorry, got caught up in my book. Let's go shall we?" They walked out of the room quickly, leaving James and Sirius alone.

"It's alright mate. She's being an idiot. Ignore her" Sirius said quietly, placing a hand on James' shoulder.

"No, she's not. I am a prat." He replied, starting to run a hand through his hair again, before realising what he was doing, and bringing it down to his side.

"Look James. If she hasn't been smart enough to figure out it's a nervous habit, then she's not worthy of the 'the best witch of our age' title she's constantly being given! She doesn't deserve you time Prongs. Even if you can't stop loving her." Sirius said sadly, knowing what was going through his best friends mind.

"Hmm…" A sound issued from James, who simply went to his bed, picked up a book, and began to read. And continued to read until past 12, when the boys decided to go to bed, Sirius having stayed in the room in silence for the past few hours with James, just sitting, occasionally looking over to his friend.

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It was half one when Sirius awoke to the sound of muffled cries. Trying to decide where they were coming from, in an instant he had got it. Peter never cries. And Remus only does if he has a nightmare of…_that_ night. But he, Sirius, would have awoken by then if it had been. So it had to be James. 

Now there is one thing you need to understand about James and Sirius. No matter what people think, about how 'hard' they are, or anything of the like, the both do cry. And both are the only ones the other will cry to.

Sirius, knowing his friend wouldn't mind, transformed into a dog right then, and ran across the room, though the bed curtains, and onto his friends bed. Deciding to lye half across him, half on top of him, he nuzzled up to James' cheek, and licked him, just to let him know he had him there.

In an instant, Sirius had been enveloped in a hug, and was transforming back into a human. Hugging back, he tried to soothe James, and hating Lily for doing this to his best friend, but wishing she would just see what a lovely person he was, and just go out with him.

And that is how James fell asleep finally, but Sirius lay awake for many hours, toying over his thoughts. Now that he thought about it, James' plan did make some sense. He wasn't sure why he hadn't just decided to go along with it totally in the first place. After all, James had accepted him for what he was since he found out. In fact, since they had met, James hadn't been horrible to Sirius, and he didn't act stupid over the fact he was a Black. He wasn't nasty about his family. In fact, he had acted in the opposite way, and offered him a place at his house whenever Sirius needed it. He had even accepted the fact he was gay without any trouble. Well, _he _figured it out, but still… 'So,' Sirius resolved 'I'll use his plan…he does seem to want me to be with Remus…'

Smiling to himself, Sirius made his way back to his bed, and lay down, falling asleep very soon afterwards.

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	6. problems

Ok, so heres how it goes. I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, it would be very different.

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Sirius shifted in his seat. 'For Merlin's sake' he thought gruffly, 'we're wizards, yet we don't even have a spell to get rid of…problems…' You see, Sirius had a problem. A rather…_large_ problem. And it was all Remus' fault.

A week had passed since Sirius had accepted to try the next stage of James' plan, however, nothing had yet arisen to give him the chance to fulfil it, and so he was just stuck in classes daydreaming about Remus again.

He had just been having a fantastic daydream, when he was woken with a start. By Remus. Accidentally brushing their knees together as he turned to talk to Prongs. So this is how Sirius came to have his problem. And of course, it seemed to be a problem he couldn't get rid of right now…

'Stupid penis. Can't you find a suitable time?' Sirius continued his mind grumbling for at least 5 minutes. That was until he was hit on the upside of his head.

"HEY!" Bad move. Next thing he knew, James and Remus were laughing their socks off, and half the class was looking at him. Including Binns.

"Thank you Mr Brown, but I do not believe that you should be so offended by the Goblin Rebellions of 1695"

"Right. Sorry Sir" Was all Sirius could muster, whilst trying to elbow his best friend in the ribs. "I hate you. You know that right?" He growled to James, who, still trying to silent his laughter, just nodded with tears in his eyes.

Sirius sighed heavily and placed his head on the desk. His problem still hadn't gone away…

'Dumbledore in a bikini, Dumbledore in a bikini, Dumbledore in a bikini'

"Yes, only 2 more minutes until we can go!"

'Dumbledore in a bikini, Dumbledore in a bikini'

"Finally, thought the lesson would never end…"

'DUMBLEDORE IN A BIKINI'

Yes! It had worked. Sirius looked up at the two boys grinning, "To lunch then, my friends!"

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The Marauders sat at Griffindor table, eagerly awaiting the food platters to appear. When it finally did, the boys made a show of grabbing anything within reach. Well, James and Sirius made a show of it, to distract everyone from noticing Remus grabbing any meat in reach.

"So got much homework tonight Moony?"

"Not really, but I'm not feeling too good tonight, I might get it done quickly and then go see Madam Pomfrey." This code had been sorted out many years ago, and basically allowed all the Marauders to know roughly what time the moon was rising, so they could figure out what time to head down to the shrieking shack.

"Well, if you still don't feel well tomorrow, stay in the hospital wing. Sirius'll be the only one to keep you company though, me and Pete have a detention with McGonagall tomorrow night." Upon hearing this, Moony nodded to his plate, shoving some sausage into his mouth as he did so.

James glanced across the table to where Sirius was sat, who was staring at him, as though he had been confunded. He winked in reply to the unasked question that was resting in Sirius' throat. Well, he and Peter _did_ have a detention tomorrow night. Or, at least, they _will_ do.

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	7. The evening after the night before

The full moon has happened. Welcome to the evening after…I dont own anything.

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Sirius hated seeing Remus in this state. Madam Pomfrey would allow him to go and sleep in their dorm room, as the beds were much comfier than the horrid ones in the hospital wing, and the Marauders took turns checking on him through different lessons. Sometimes through 'bathroom breaks', sometimes through 'needs to see their head of house', once James even broke Sirius' nose to allow him to go and check on the poor boy. James had ended up with two weeks worth of detention with McGonagall for that one. Sometimes one of them would skip a lesson all together, usually History of Magic, and the other would answer for them.

Today had been James' turn to check on him most in the day, to allow an excuse for not seeing him in the evening. Not that Remus ever really noticed who had seen him when. So Sirius had him all evening. All to himself. He supposed that it was a good thing. If only it didn't hurt so much to see his beloved Moony in this state.

He had brought up some food with him, but knew at once that Moony wouldn't be able to eat it. He was curled up beneath the duvet, shivering, pale and sickly white. Sirius crouched down next to the bed, and stroked Remus' hair. To anyone other than a Marauder, this may have seemed strange, but to them it was second nature. They all knew that Remus responded well to this affectionate touch, and used it to calm him down when in this state.

Remus fidgeted in his sleep, opening his eyes slowly, attempting a smile when he saw who it was. However, this smile was soon lost in a look of pure nausea, and he quickly closed his eyes again to rid himself of it. Sirius smiled to himself as he broke off a piece of chocolate and held it near Remus' face.

"Come on Rem," He said softly, coaxing Remus to open his eyes, "got some chocolate here. Just for you…gonna eat it?"

Remus just shook his head slowly, closing his eyes again, and snuggled into the pillow. He did this every time, and they all knew what to do,

"Come on Moony, you've got to eat…how else will you have enough energy to pull pranks?" Remus smiled at these words, but did not open his mouth, nor his eyes. "Please?" Sirius coaxed again, "if not for me for the chocolate at least! It came all the way from Honeydukes just to be eaten by you…you're disappointing it…"

At this, Remus let out a small chuckle at his friend, and opened his mouth, unwilling to free his hands from holding the duvet as close as possible. Sirius grinned as Remus' mouth opened enough to allow the chocolate to be placed within it. Gently placing it within the werewolf's mouth, Sirius let his eyes wander over the young boys face.

Remus, sensing he was being watched, opened his eyes, and found himself looking straight into the enticing stare of one Sirius Black. Both held the stare for at least a minute, hardly daring to breath, until Sirius broke contact and looked down to the floor.

"I-I've got some homework to do…is that ok? I'll just be in the next bed…" Remus nodded his reply, and closed his eyes again pulling his face further down into the covers.

Sirius walked over to his bed and took out his Potions work, sighing inwardly. Hopefully James was right; hopefully that moment would help him with his feelings towards Remus. Hopefully there were some feelings back.

Meanwhile, James was sat in the dungeons. 'Sirius had better be making bloody good use of the time I gave him' he thought as he wrote out another line of lines, 'or I'm gonna kill him'. The one good thing about being one of Slughorns favourites (even if you weren't that good at potions) was that, turns out, you only get lines for setting off a whole box of Filibusters Fireworks in the corridor before the lesson. However, it really did make his hand hurt. 'Bloody Sirius, if he isn't making good use of this time…'

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	8. Its Pranking time!

sorry about the long long long delay, but i had a severe lack of insperation!

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Sirius steadied himself against the wall, breathing heavily. The task of causing a diversion whilst the other Marauders set up their latest prank had fallen to him this time, due to the fact that Remus, who usually carried out this part, still had a bad leg from the full moon two nights ago.

Though it had been nearly 2 weeks since he had decided on carrying out James' plan, Sirius still had to do anything. Not because he was afraid this time (he had accepted that he had one of three fates, either he blurt it out to Remus and risk getting rejected and broken-hearted, carry out James' plan and have Remus not feel the same way and not cooperate, or not tell Remus, and live the rest of his life regretting this, then die sad and alone, only to be found a week later half eaten by Alsatians...), the right opportunity had simply not arisen.

Smiling to himself, Sirius thought of the night of the full moon. They had been exploring the woods again. Letting Moony out was better, he was much less likely to hurt himself in the woods than in the shack. The only problem was when they made him go back, about an hour before sunrise. He had gotten aggressive, and they had had to stay outside the room. They could hear Moony hurting himself, biting his legs, but could do nothing. It tore Sirius up inside. But none of that, he thought to himself, they had a good night before that. Playing, running, chasing, it was better that way, if they let the wolf release the tension (it was quite fun for the others aswell).

Suddenly, heavy footsteps could be heard. These were distinct to Mr Filtch, the new Caretaker. Cursing how long he had stood solitary, Sirius turned to sprint up another corridor. However, before he could do this, a loud bang was heard from somewhere above them. Hearing Filtchs' footsteps grow fainter, Sirius realised that it would be wise to get back to the common room, so that he could not be blamed for the pranks.

Finally making it to the common room, he managed to throw himself onto the sofa into a comfortable position, accepting the air of someone who had been like that for hours with ease. He had done this many times after all. The portrait door opened and Sirius heart gave a little leap, afraid that McGonagall was coming to give him yet another detention. In reality, it was only James, Remus and Peter, all of whom were totally out of breath. As each of them fell quietly into a position similar to Sirius', he only scoffed for a second over the fact that Remus' leg was hurt, to which Remus smiled, whilst insisting it didn't hurt _that_ much, and James rolled his eyes dramatically, which earned a kick from Sirius. A kick fight soon insued between the two boys on either end of the sofa.

All laughing like maniacs, they didn't even hear the portrait door swing open, revealing their fuming Head of House.

"Was it you?" She asked, her mouth thinning more than they had ever seen. Each adopting a suitably confused expression,

"Was what us?" Sirius asked as if totally innocent,

"You know, that...that _prank_ that was just pulled on the poor Slytherin Third Years! Just ten minutes ago. Where have you all been?"

"Been here all the time Professor" James replied with a shrug,

"And can anyone vouch for that?" She asked with a contemptuous air. Now she had them. All they had now was the hope that someone would lie for them.

"Yes Professor" piped a voice in the corner. Turning to see who their saviour was, Sirius saw Frank Longbottom, a very skilled, though slightly chubby, seventh year, "They've been here for at least an hour, or however long it has taken me to do this essay."

"You're quite sure Longbottom?"

"Yeah, it's hard not to notice if they are in a room, and they defiantly were."

"Very well then, I'm sorry for assuming it was you then boys. Now I'll see you all in Transfiguration." She said, turning and striding out of the common room.

Once the portrait had shut once again, James grinned at Sirius,

"Close one mate"

"Yeah, close one." Sirius agreed wearing the same manical grin as his best friend.

"Wouldn't have been if James hadn't kept stopping every five corridors to make sure i was alright" Remus chuckled,

"Well I wouldn't have if you had just agreed to a piggyback, I mean, you almost broke your leg!" James replied in a motherly tone. Who'd have thunk it, James Potter was the mother of the group.

"Yeah, well, I have my dignity Prongs. Which reminds me," he added as a second thought, "Frank, cheers mate! We owe you one!"

"Don't mention it!" Frank shouted back, returning to his essay.

Sirius looked at James, who had been momentarily distracted by the exchange between Remus and Frank. Tackling him would be easy at the moment. He would fall off the sofa. It sounded like a good idea. Now, in Sirius world, a good idea must always be carried out, and so it was. Lunging at James, he caught him round the middle, pushing them both to the floor. This called for a play fight, and after a few elbows in eyes, Remus decided it was time to intervine. Pulling the two apart he couldn't help but laugh. Both were developing bruises even now. Bruises which would have to be healed by tomorrow. And probably by Remus.

"Come on," He said through the laughter, "Its dinner now"

That night was meant to be a boring one. By all accounts it should have been. James was in detention, Pete was getting help with Charms, and both Sirius and Remus were meant to be doing work. Only they weren't. As, though Remus had tried _very_ hard to work, Sirius had not stopped winging. Not even when Remus had cast a silencing spell on him had he stopped bothering Remus. Finally giving in, Remus lifted the spell, and asked what was wrong.

"Eye hurts" was the only answer he was given.

"And what do you want me to do about it Pads?" Remus asked sighing slightly,

"Heal it." Came the short reply, along with a cheeky grin.

"Fine, come here" Remus said, signalling to his bed, letting Sirius sit beside him. Muttering the spell, he cast his wand around Sirius' bruised eye until it seemed healthy. Only then did he notice that he was looking into Sirius' eyes.

Sirius had to bite his lip to restrain himself from just kissing Remus then and there, looking into those amber eyes. After at least a minute (it felt like a life time) of silence, Sirius jerked his head away, looking at the floor. "Cheers Remus" he muttered, returning to his bed, and trying to finish his potions essay, though this seemed to be pointless, as he could focus no more on that than he could just stop loving Remus. _Great_ he thought, bitterly, _another sleepless night in store_.

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	9. A summery in notes

**You done anything yet?**

_Nope_

**Come on, what's taking so long**

_You try telling someone you love them then..._

**I have, and i do. Everyday. You know that, you're there all the time.**

_Oh shut up Potter_

**Ooh tetchy...**

_Piss off._

**OK.**

_Prongs..._

_Prongs..._

_PRONGS_

_Jaaaames..._

_Jaaaames...please...oh...Im so alone...There's no one her beside me..._

**Alright, I'll talk to you if you shut up...**

_Wasn't talking..._

**You know what I mean you annoying little puppy**

_I'm not a puppy...im a dog, a big, HUGE dog_

**Eew...you have a creepy, creepy mind. HEY!**

_What?_

**You distracted me...we were talking about you telling Remus.**

_Why? _

**Because. You have to tell him. It's annoying me, it's annoying everyone.**

_Yeah well, ok. It's annoying me too. But I haven't had the right time..._

**Well, what have you done about it?**

_Umm...well... I think...nothing. I haven't done anything. Not yet..._

**Are you sure. I mean, you and Remus have been alone a lot lately...surely something has happened?**

_Well, we played quidditch...and got very, very wet..._

**OK, so, part one of '****Wonderful, Masterful, and Brilliant Plan to get Sirius and Remus together'**

_Dude, the plan needs a new name...and anyway...no. couldn't be...no_

**Yes. Believe me. It was, Remmy was lustful!! Hehehe**

Don't call him Remmy. Anyway, so, after that you had that detention when I sorted him out after the 'moon

**Alright then...so thats stage 2...**

_Grrr. After that you had ANOTHER detention after you beat me up-_

**Beaten. Beaten Sirius-**

_Yeah, whatever. So after that, Rem healed my poor bruised eye that hurt. And thats it._

**Well, that much goodness. So, next step. You have to spend more time with him alone. Just to get an idea of how he feels...**

_More time alone? How am I meant to do that?_

**I dunno do I? I'll distract Wormy...just do it.**

_Fine whatever you say_


	10. One Month Later

Really sorry about the EXTREAMLY long delay, but I lost all of my fanfiction mojo this year, because of my exams and all. So here it is, I know many of you have probably given up, but ah well. Enjoy. and the next chapter should be up a lot sooner...and wil come even sooner if you review...

* * *

Sirius looked out the window to the snow covered ground. The sky was cloudless, and the waning moon causing a ghostly glow across the grounds of Hogwarts. Sighing, Sirius glanced to the empty bed across the room. Remus was in the hospital wing, recovering from a particularly bad night; they had almost lost him when out in the grounds, some third years thinking they would be mischievous and crept out of the castle to see why the forest was forbidden. Luckily they had caught Moony just in time, distracting him long enough for the kids to move on, and enable them to get the angered werewolf back to the shrieking shack.

Sirius felt tears in his eyes, remembering how Remus looked when he had gone to see him the morning before; his normally pale face almost translucent, with scratches across his face and arms. He didn't even wake up. The news that Remus was severely ill had already travelled across the school, and the Marauders were expected to bunk lessons for the next few days; it's what they did whenever Moony was 'ill'.

He pulled his feet up towards him, and hugged his knees, gazing once more outside. Tomorrow people would all have snow fights, laugh, and have fun. All except a few, who would all be too concerned to do anything. James, he knew, would spend the day attempting to cheer him up, bringing food to the dorm room, getting extra notes for both Moony and Sirius, so that Padfoot wouldn't have to. Wormtail would spend the day pretending to care as much as the rest of them, but would long to go outside and play with the rest of the school. Lily would hang around with her friends, pretending to be carefree, but not join in the conversations, not listen to the compliments. Even Snape would act differently, mooching around the hospital wing, trying to see Remus, trying to see what _was_ wrong with him.

He looked to the moon, around 2 o'clock he guessed. Only 4 more hours before he would be allowed in to see Moony. 4 more hours…he already felt knackered, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, not for a moment. Leaning against the glass, he closed his eyes for a moment, the events of the past few weeks running through his mind. Him and Remus playing quidditch, getting soaked, him helping Remus after the last full moon, all the other moments he and Moony were left alone, mainly through James' ingenious planning. He let out a slow sigh, breathing in the warm air, which smelled slightly of wood smoke from the fire. He would prefer the crisp whiteness of the snow air to this. This stuffiness did nothing for his mind, merely taunting him with a sleepiness to which he would not be able to succumb.

He opened his eyes slowly, shifting to a more comfortable position upon his window sill. He longed to open the window, but knew that it would wake Wormtail up. James would be fine with the change in temperature, even if it did wake him up for a moment, but Wormy, the usually heavy sleeper, hated the cold, and would wake at the first instance of a change in the room.

It was at the point when this thought struck Sirius that a mug appeared in front of him. Looking up to the bearer, he saw James, holding out the hot chocolate with a concerned smile. Sirius knew he looked a mess; his hair was all over the place, a consequence of his hand running though it almost constantly for the past hour (a mannerism which he had picked up from James), and his eyes were puffy and red from the silently spilt tears. He had always cried silently, a trait he developed young. He had almost forgotten, however, that James always seemed to know when he was doing it. That James always, somehow, knew that he was upset, no matter the circumstances, no matter the time.

Accepting the chocolate, Sirius closed his eyes, leaning against the window pane. The chocolate was comforting, even if it wouldn't help him sleep. He distantly heard Prongs making his way back to bed. "Four more hours," he said quietly to himself, "only four more hours". And he waited, hot chocolate in hand, for the sun to rise.


	11. In the Library

"Remus" she urged, pushing the parchment towards him, "just write it".

Remus bit his lip, staring at the old scratched table in front of him. It had only been a few days since he had been allowed out of the hospital wing, where Sirius had been with him almost every day, if not almost every hour. He stayed that way for minutes, staring at the table and wringing his hands, making sure he didn't give in and look at her. Making sure he didn't even glance at her, because if he did she would convince him to do it; and that was the stupidest idea that had ever occurred. Ever.

So he shook his head, and continued to study the graffiti on the table, tracing his fingers over the hearts and initials, over the old students who had etched what they were revising and when. Looking down, and refusing to speak.

"Look," he finally came out with, a good five minutes later, "I…I just can't". The girl opposite merely raised her eyebrows, and chuckled.

"It's not that hard; you put the quill in the ink, and then write the symbols on the parchment." Remus just scowled at her, attempting to look as angry as possible, and failing miserably; the amusement evident in his eyes.

"Cow" he opted for instead, "I mean it's too _hard_. They'll just think I'm a twat and laugh…I mean, how do you tell someone you love them? How do you tell someone you love them when you can't even work up the courage to tell your friends you love _someone_?"

Lily reached across the table and grabbed Remus' hand. Squeezing it, she replied, "You write them a letter, hope to Merlin they don't laugh, and if they do, you enlist the help of James Potter to make it seem like one giant prank". Remus laughed and raised his quill, finally convinced, and wrote his heart on the parchment.

Sirius ran panting up the stairs, tears shining in his eyes.

He was an idiot to ever have listened to James, to get his hopes up like that. He wrenched open the door, pulling off the invisibility cloak at the same time, throwing it at James' head.

"Gaa!" James shouted, startled, "You made me jump…what's wrong?" he asked, staring at the blackened mood of his best friend.

"You were wrong, that's what!" Sirius yelled in return, kicking his trunk in the process. Sensing the direction of the conversation, and how loud it was to become, James quickly locked the door, and cast a silencing charm around the room. "Pads…" he began.

"I was an idiot for trusting you. You and your 'instinct'! WELL YOU WERE WRONG! Totally and utterly wrong!" Sirius collapsed onto his bed.

"Padfoot," James tried again, "Padfoot, please tell me what happened." Concern growing in his voice, James walked slowly to Sirius' bed. Sitting warily beside him, he placed a hand on his shoulder. Head in hands, Sirius began to explain, "Remus was down there. Talking with Evans." Sirius' shoulders began to shake as the tears spilled over, "he-he was writing a letter t-to someone he loved. Someone he _loved_. A-and he was nervous because he thought they would laugh, and we would laugh, so he hasn't told us and he was worried about not having told us, and-and he _loves_ someone. Loves _someone_! Someone not me. And I was stupid."

James sighed, looking at the boy next to him. He had seen all sides of Sirius; happy, gloating, sad, depressed. But heartbroken Sirius was definitely the worst. "It's a pickle" he said, earning himself a token Black glare. "Come on Pads, there's not much you can do, we don't know who this 'someone' is, and until we do, you will have to calm down and act normal. If he tells us, then _pretend_ to be happy for him, at least, for me. Then (if it isn't you) when they break his heart, you'll always be there to pick up the pieces. Plus we will prank their brains out." He added with a grin.

Sirius looked up at James for a long while, not sure whether to be annoyed or happy, so settled for elbowing him in the ribs and calling him a "poofter".

"I think you'll find that that is you Master Padfoot" James replied with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, but you must be gay." Sirius replied, "Because everybody wants ma bootaaay." The only reply he got to this was a pillow hitting him on the head, and James making his way back to his own bed. "Hey!" he shouted to the retreating boy.

"Night, Pads"

"Night Prongs," he replied huffily, pulling the curtains on his bed.


	12. Remus' confession

I actually completly forgot about all of these, until I found an old chapter in one of my notebooks, and it brought the muse back...sorry if you were waiting an obscenely long time. I'm not too good at uploading to a deadline...really sorry...

* * *

Remus took a deep breath, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. He'd been studying it for the past five minutes, from when he nabbed James from the common room, asking to speak alone with him. He bit his lip, and closed his eyes. He still wasn't sure how to do this. Lily had made it sound so easy, just tell them that you like someone. Just tell them.

He took another deep breath, and silently accused Lily; _how would she know? _He thought angrily, _She'd never have the trouble of telling people like James and, and Sirius. How am I meant to know if they'll be alright with it?_ He thought in a worried panic. Digging his fingers into his arms, he was just going to tell James 'never mind', when –

"Umm, mate?" James asked, as Remus started, "If it's going to make you that angry, then maybe you should just get it out? And try not to break something?" He added as an afterthought, thinking of the many times Sirius had called him up here to have a chat, and had often ended up breaking something. Quite often it was a bed. (Sirius had definitely inherited 'The Black Temper' as James referred to it. Though, to be fair, it _was_ probably just the result of incessant in-breeding).

"Oh," Remus mumbled, "well, I, um, I..." He trailed off, a look of extreme discomfort replacing his anger towards Lily.

James sighed, smiling slightly at his friend, who obviously needed to get something off of his chest. "Look, mate," he began, contemplating moving closer, "I don't care what you have to tell me. I really don't. I wouldn't care if you told me your Uncle got turned into a dragon...actually, that'd be pretty cool, but never mind that. I could even, probably, stand for you telling me that you and Lily are going out without hating you _too much_. Just so long as you aren't in love with Snape...I don't think I;d ever be able to forgive you that one."

James looked to Remus, and noticed that his face fell distinctly. Suddenly worrying about a lot of things at once ('_Oh god, he does love Snivilus', 'Shite, what will Sirius think? Double shite, what will Sirius do?', 'Oh, god. COMFORT HIM YOU IDIOT!'_) He stuttered out a few words, staring dumbfounded at his friend. "Oh, crap. Sorry Moony. You...you love Sniv- Snape? Umm...well...I guess, I don't hate you really I..."

He trailed off, looking up to Remus, to see the first hint of amusement he had seen all day from the boy. "I don't love Snape," Remus muttered quietly, fear once again taking him.

"Well then, what's wrong?" James asked "You're as pale as Snivilus' arse standing there."

"Well, you see, umm..." Remus began again, in the same style as before. James sighed, exasperated. He raised his eyebrows, and looked to Remus expectantly, murmuring "I don't care" as he did.

Remus took yet another deep breath, thinking for a moment that this is the deepest breathing he's ever done, closed his eyes (yes, again) and bit his lip, before it all came pouring out...

"Well, you were kind of right before, because I wanted to tell you first, because I don't know how everyone will handle it, and I don't know if you'll all still like me anymore, and I just wanted to say...well....I do. Like someone I mean. I mean, I love someone..." He trailed off, chancing a glance to the raven haired boy, who was sitting stock still on his bed. Remus moved backwards towards his own bed, and sat, feeling slightly freer than he did twenty minutes ago. _Lily was right. _He thought, _maybe._ He added, looking at the dumbfounded look on James' face.

All of a sudden, James began to laugh, despite his head telling him he really shouldn't. He stopped, however, as soon as Remus got that look in his eye. The one where he's afraid he's being judged. Sighing quietly, James moved over to sit next to his friend.

Smiling slightly, he put a hand on the young boy's shoulder. "Moony," he began, "umm...are you completely idiotic?" Seeing the hurt look on his friends face, he quickly carried on. "What I mean, _Moony_, is that, _Moony_, we accepted you, _Moony_, even when you told us of your 'furry little problem', _Moony_." He continued, stressing his friend's nickname each time he said it. "Why, in Merlin's name, would any of us not want to be friends with you because you _love _someone?"

He shook his head, and looked to the smaller boy, just as said boy mumbled something out. James raised his eyebrow, looking expectant.

"it'sharderbecauseIlikeaguy" He mumbled out quickly, hoping James wouldn't catch it, but would also stop asking him.

"Umm...you might have to speak up. And slower. I'm not sure I got that."

"I...I...umm....I like a guy. It's a guy. It's always been a guy." Remus stuttered out, worried. He looked to his friend, the one whom always seemed slightly more accepting of everything than his other two friends, fear striking his stomach as James flopped backwards onto the bed, and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I understand if you hate me now." He continued, "I don't mind. Well, I do. But I can go sleep somewhere else. That room that isn't always there, I could go sleep in there if you'd prefer not to have me around in here..."

James smiled at his friend's constant sense of unworthiness. No matter how many times they told him they liked him, he was always half expecting them to ask him to leave.

James lifted himself back into a seated position, mumbleing "why is it always me?" as he went. Seeing Remus' look of fear and confusion, he decided to clarify a few matters.

"Moony, I don't care. And I very much doubt Padfoot will either. Actually, I can almost guarantee he won't give a damn. Peter...well, he's Peter, what does it matter what he thinks about the matter. Majority rules in here, and you know that Sirius' ego counts for at least two people." James grinned at his friend. "You don't have to leave. Trust me. We do not, I repeat _do not_ care that you are gay. We accepted you're a werewolf right? Well, just like then, nothing's different at all. Only now you're a werewolf who happens to like men."

Remus smiled slightly, pleased at the acceptance, but he still wasn't sure. "You sure Sirius won't care?" He asked quietly, peaking at his friend though his eyelashes.

"Positive. But, maybe you should tell him. You know...secrets are best kept marauder style. Plus I can't keep a thing to myself." James replied, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, maybe..." Remus trailed off, as they both began to head back down to the common room.

"Oh, umm...Moony..." James began, a query hanging in his voice, "it's not me is it?" he asked, as Remus tuned to him. Seeing the look of amusement in Remus' eyes, his fears were quashed. He had no idea what Sirius would have done if that one had been true. "Good", he continued, "Because I wouldn't want to upset Lily by starting a gay love affair with you now, would I?" His only reply to that was a smack upside the head, and the quite laugh of one Remus Lupin.


	13. In the Astronomy Tower

I think this may be the fastest I've uploaded two chapters. Ever. I think I know where I'm going for the next two chapters, and I think that'll be it after that. Once this is sorted, I'm going to be moving onto my other old, forgotten stories which haven't been finished. But you never know, this one may end up taking many more chapters...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. It's sad, I know.

OH! The Real Mad Hatter, this is for you, seens as you told me to update soon. It gave me the motivation to write this one, much sooner than the, what, year between the last two? Thanks for the review!

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Sirius glared at his namesake, twinkling innocently at him. Why did life have to be so damned difficult all the time? It was around 11 at night, and for the past 6 or so hours, ever since Remus had told him about how he was, well, 'not quite straight' as James later described it, an internal argument had been raging inside him. He'd tried hard to hide it, and, who knows, he may have succeeded. Well, apart from hiding it from James. That boy was way too observant for his own good – it was the main reason they were so good at pranks; Sirius came up with ideas, James noticed _everything_ so that it could be carried out to its fullest potential, and Remus....well, Remus was the one who stopped them being _over_-ambitious, made sure they wouldn't kill them, or get them expelled or anything.

Often, Sirius was left wondering how so few people noticed how James knew so much, or how he seemed to know exactly what all of his friends were doing and feeling at each moment. _Creepy_, Sirius thought, _way too creepy for his own good...._

Trailing off of his thought train, Sirius remembered how his loyal friend had 'lovingly' (in James' words, not Sirius') kicked him out of the Gryffindor common room to go for a walk. Apparently Sirius' mental arguments were annoying the ever-vigilant Potter. "Go argue with yourself somewhere else, mate" had been the only comment James had given, pushing Sirius out of the portrait hole with the map and invisibility cloak.

That was how Sirius found himself here, sitting in the astronomy tower, stargazing. It was a fine past-time, something the Marauders did quite often; usually when James and Sirius were getting sick of the dorms, and Remus still wasn't up for much wandering around. A trip up here, with use of the cloak and map, meant they weren't seen, and had the entire area to themselves. Sirius had developed the habit of coming here alone a while ago; it was a nice place to think. Something James-bloody-Potter probably knew.

Shaking his head, he tried, in vain, to stop his brain going back through the same cycle it had been for the past 6 hours;

_But he's openly gay now. You should be happy._

_But he likes someone...._

_But that could be you_

_But it isn't_

_But it could be_

_But it isn't_

_You could make it_

_No, I can't_

_Yes, you can_

_NO. I'm his best friend; I will accept who he likes. Ish._

_No you won't. You'll hate them, and then he'll hate you..._

_But I'm his best friend; I won't do anything bad..._

_Yes you will, you know you will..._

And so it continued, all the way round in a little, infuriating, circle in his head, whilst he glared at the constellations he had been forced to learn as a child. Sirius knew that the matter wasn't going to sort itself out in his head, but the argument just wouldn't stop. He knew he'd have to talk it out with someone later, try and clear his head a bit.

_It would have helped, _Sirius thought, huffily, _if Moony had just, bloody, told us who it was. If I knew who stopped me having a chance..._

_No it wouldn't, _the slightly more realistic side of Sirius' brain thought,_ you would have just hexed them into the next century, and that would have upset him._

_Would not, I would have accepted Remus' decision._

_Would not have._

And the argument began once again. Sirius groaned, and leant his head back against the stone wall. Closing his eyes, and running a hand through his hair (thank you James for giving him that mannerism) he tried to work out the problems in his head, knowing it was futile. Whilst he was waging internal war against his own head, he heard light footfalls – the sort which was achieved only through years of mischief making.

Sirius opened his eyes, looking over to see which of his friends had joined him, knowing it was only likely to be one of them. And, lo and behold, his instinct was right. There, walking quietly up to the grey-eyed boy was one Mr James Potter, smiling softly, but still with a look of slight smugness that he knew exactly where his friend was to be found.

James sat down next to Sirius, silently, and said nothing. This, altogether, wasn't uncommon. Contrary to popular belief amongst the students of Hogwarts, neither boy _had_ to be speaking all of the time. Quite often they would just sit in silence; both being unnaturally tuned in to the others thoughts.

_So_ _he probably knows _exactly _what's going through my mind right now_, Sirius thought, waiting for his friend to say the first word. That was one thing which was common knowledge around Hogwarts – Sirius Black was damn stubborn. James, gathering that this was what was happening, rolled his eyes, and indulged his friend.

"So," he began, "Remus likes someone."

"Yeah," was his only reply. This was going to be harder than originally anticipated. Sighing heavily, James continued,

"Thought it might be you?"

"Yup"

"Decided against it?"

"Yup"

"Right. I think you're wrong. I think it is you."

"I don't"

"Argued with yourself about sabotaging Moony's relationship?"

"Yup"

"Decision"

"I'll try not to. But I am crap at these things."

"Right."

James looked around to his friend for the first time in the short discussion which had managed to sum up Sirius' whole thought process of the past 6 and a half hours.

"Pads, I think you should continue with the plan, even if it isn't you. You two would be perfect together."

"James," came the exasperated reply, "James, I can't. I won't ruin the relationship Remus is sure to get himself into. I mean, he must be serious if he finally told us..." he trailed off. But, seeing his friend was about to argue further, he continued, "NO James, I give up. I'm going to back off, and let Moony decide what he wants. I'm not going to ruin this for him."

Sighing heavily, James just looked forward again, before replying, "Right." Shaking his head, he began to move off, stopping before the stairs to turn back to Sirius,

"You coming, Padfoot?"

"Yeah," came the reply. With that, Sirius gave one last look to his namesake, and followed his friend back to the common room. Tomorrow he would back off, let Remus have his someone. Even if it meant he hurt.


	14. It's never easy is it?

Ok, so this one's a bit shorter, because I decided to split what would have been this one chapter into two, possibly three, because it fitted better, and now there's more story to enjoy!

Disclaimer: You all know that I don't own anyone in this. Do I really have to write it down??

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This was really getting out of hand. Sirius had, somehow, managed to interpret his 'backing off from Remus' as 'ignoring Remus for the best part of two days', and James was getting sick of it. Both of his best were now upset; Remus had stormed off from their last class without a backward glance, and Sirius had disappeared soon after. James knew they were both going to be upset and angry, and they both would need to sort through this with someone. He also knew that he would have to be that someone before he could even get them into the same room as one another. The biggest problem with this, however, was the decision of which one to help first; Sirius was being angsty Sirius, whereas, if he knew Remus at all, he would guess that the scrawny boy would be thinking that none of them accept him, and wondering how he could convince the headmaster to let him move dorms.

Now, in James' mind, all of the points led him to want to talk to Remus first, but he knew that Remus was unlikely to believe him without Sirius, the one who had caused this mess to begin with, being there to tell him himself. This made James' head do a turn-around, and made him want to go to Sirius first.

_This is a lot harder than it should be_, James thought, finally deciding to head over to the dorms to drop off his bag, and then go off in search of his best friend. Deciding that this was the best plan of action, he headed off to the dorm rooms. However, just as he was about to enter the portrait hole, he heard a familiar voice call to him,

"Potter!" the voice shouted. Groaning, James turned around, thinking hard what he had done that could have annoyed the girl whom the voice belonged to; Lily Evans.

"What?" he growled when he still couldn't think of anything, "what do you want, Evans? I'm kind of in a hurry here."

"Oh, I'm sure you are," she replied, her voice dripping with abhorrence, "But I want to have a word with you. In here." She added, opening the door to an empty classroom.

Raising his eyebrows, James entered the room, trying to ignore the glare he was getting from the girl. "Well," he began, "now that you have me here, I guess you can have your wicked way with me."

"Oh, shut up you prat" Lily scoffed, "I'm here to talk to your about your treatment of Remus."

"What about it?" James asked, genuinely confused. He hadn't done anything to Remus, well, apart from the occasional pranks that all the Marauders were subject to.

"He's upset. That's what." Lily scowled at him so hard, he was tempted to move back a few paces. As he forced himself to stand his ground, she continued, "He doesn't understand why you all hate him all of a sudden. Well, he says he does, but I know he doesn't. Just because he's slightly different to the rest of you, doesn't make him a bad person. He doesn't deserve to be treated like dirt and ignored by the likes of you and Black. You're just as bad as those _Death Eaters_ out there; discriminating against someone for no substantial reason at all! You do-"

James, who had been getting angrier and angrier throughout her rant, finally broke. Cutting through whatever she was about to say, he stepped closer to her. Looking down, almost growling through his clenched teeth, he began, "How dare you! How dare you even pretend to understand what the fuck me and my friends are like. You don't understand anything going on right now." Lily was beginning to get scared, she'd never known James to get so angry, praying he would stop, he continued, "You think you understand us? Well you obviously don't. Why the fuck would I hate Moony for such a shitty reason as who he likes? I wouldn't give a fuck if he liked hippogriffs! And don't even pretend to understand why Padfoot has been ignoring him, because you don't. No one else does! So why don't you mind your own damn business, and fuck off."

James took a breath, and began to leave. He knew that he had gotten out of hand, and he hadn't meant to. It was just that certain things people said infuriated him, including the questioning of his loyalty to his friends (Remus had once remarked that he was surprised that it hadn't got him sorted into Hufflepuff. James had punched him so hard on the arm, Remus was sure the bruise was still there...). Sometimes, James was sure that Sirius' anger, which they had named 'The Black Mood' in second year, had rubbed off on him. Trying desperately to calm himself, James moved towards the door. Just before he was going to open it, he turned back to the startled girl in the room.

"And don't you dare, ever, compare me and my friends to that scum again." He said, a dark look coming across his face. Immediately, Lily regretted comparing him to the Death Eaters. True, they weren't really similar, but she knew she could get carried away in her anger. Especially when Potter was involved.

* * *

Thanks to those who reviewed,

Ellesra - Here's the update, and they are awesome aren't they? Thanks for the credit of reminding you :D

gaia-x-goddess - I know, I love the cute. But I do seem to have a tendancy to write bittersweet and sad....It will all be happy soon though, only a few more chapters...

rekahneko - Thanks, I tried to base it on how close I think they were, using the sort of behaviour of me and my best friend for inspiration, but I don't think that always works, seens as we are both girls....

The Real Mad Hatter - That's ok, and I'm kind of glad that it got you, right in the heart. Just don't bleed to death ok? :P So there's the update, the next one shouldn't be too far away, I've refound how great FanFic is for procrastination from reading I really should be doing.


	15. Talk number one: Remus

Hey, sorry about the longer wait for this one, university life has once again caught up with me, as in, the need to go out every week, coupled with the reading for seminars = less time to write fanfiction. Not to mention my new found love of Sherlock Holmes (Holmes/Watson. Yum.) So enjoy...

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James tried to calm down, he really did. But, he found, it's quite hard to calm yourself when your best friends are completely in love with each other, both being complete idiots about it and, when you try to help, the girl you loves comes and shouts at you, calling you the scum of the earth, just because _she_ doesn't really understand what the hell was going on. And this just kept going round and round his head, until he reached the dorm room, still in a rage.

Taking one last, futile, attempt at a calming breath, he turned the doorknob, hoping to finally sort this all out...only to find that the door was locked. Silently cursing Moony and his god-damned locking spells, and his god-damned ability to make them so strong, he began to bang heavily on the door frame.

"Moony? For Merlin's sake, Moony, can you just let me in?!" James shouted, anger getting the best of him, "Look, we need to talk. You need to talk. And if you don't open the door for me, I'll knock it down. And if that doesn't work, I'll knock the bloody _wall_ down, and blame you!" He carried on, in a desperate attempt to convince the boy on the other side of the door to open the damn thing.

"Moony, don't even try to pretend you aren't there, I can _hear_ you. And you have three seconds. Three....Two....O-" at that point, finally, there was the unmistakeable click from inside. Shaking his head, James tentatively opened the door. Stepping inside, he closed it behind himself, casting the same spell Remus had before. Looking around, he found the boy he was looking for, sitting, red-eyed, on his bed.

"Moons," James began, stepping towards the boy. What had happened with Sirius had obviously upset him greatly, and it was times like this that James hated being the 'emotionally supportive' one of the group. Sitting down next to Remus, he carried on, "Moony, look...I know this is hard for you. I...I think it's hard for everyone. But...ok...umm..." He trailed off. He really did have no idea where he was meant to go with this one. Deciding to approach it from another angle, he tried again.

"Ok. Moony. Look, I just got shouted at, almost bloody _murdered_ for Merlin's sakes, by Evans because you're upset, and apparently that's my fault...Or so she thinks. Because we're not being supportive enough. That's...That's not true is it? Moony? You don't think that? Because, you know, I don't care. And I told you that...And..." He trailed off, looking at the slight smile poking through Remus' obviously dark mood. James was kind of glad, hell, he was _very_ glad (the only person worse than Sirius in a mood was Moony in a mood), and, taking comfort he wasn't likely to be punched in the face, he put an arm around Remus' shoulders.

Remus wiped some of the tears from his eyes. Moving his face to look at James, for the first time, he smiled again.

"She...she almost murdered you?" James nodded fiercely, "Well...what did she say?" Remus continued, biting his lip.

"That you deserved better friends than us, because we are stupid enough to judge you on who you happen to like."

"Oh...what did you say to that?"

"I told her not to be so stupid, and I don't care who you like..." James trailed off at the disbelieving look on Remus' face, "Ok, so, I may be paraphrasing..."

"Paraphrasing how much?" Remus enquired, intrigued.

"Umm...well...I may have told her that she doesn't understand us at all. And that I wouldn't give a fuck if you liked hippogriffs. Both of which _are_ true. Well, kind of. I mean, I would still like you if you were into hippogriffs, but, I may, and I repeat _may_ suggest to you to get help. I mean, that is still kind of weird."

Remus chuckled, but sobered up quickly. "You may not care, Prongs, but Padfoot obviously does..." he trailed off, turning his gaze to the floor once again.

"Mate," James began, once again at a loss for words. "Mate, he's just...he's just being a bit of an idiot at the moment. And it really is about him being an idiot, not him not liking you....it's...he's...he's just being the worlds biggest prat at the moment..." James finished quietly, knowing that this didn't help at all. He cursed himself inwardly, not understanding how he could be so good at knowing exactly what Sirius needed to hear, and have no idea what to tell Remus in this sort of situation.

"Seriously," he continued, knowing that his previous statement had been no help at all, "seriously, Moony, you just...Sirius just needs some time, you know, to brood a bit...and," he paused, thinking seriously over what he was about to say, "and, if he is still being a big huge prat, then does he really matter? If...if he doesn't care about you because you like 'someone', then...then he's not worth your trouble..."James bit his lip, hardly believing what he had just told Remus. True, Sirius did just need a little while to brood (something that wouldn't be much longer, if James had anything to do with it). But, James knew, he also would not be likely to get over the state he'd got himself in over Remus, Sirius was in love with him, James knew it, and Sirius would not give up his ignoring of Remus as long as he thought that it was helping.

"But he is." Came a quiet voice, breaking through James' thoughts. Looking to the small boy, James let out a breath he hadn't realised that he had been holding.

"He is?" He enquired, a small hope rising in his stomach as he said it. A slight smile began to play on his lips at Remus' tiny nod. "Why?" he asked quietly, "You can tell me, Moony, I won't care. I'll still like you. You'll still be a Marauder, no matter what." James added encouragingly, squeezing Remus' shoulder slightly. The reply he received was so quiet, James wasn't sure he heard correctly. "Come again?"

"It's...It's him. That I...It's him. It's always been _him_..." Remus replied, almost as quiet as before.

Try as he might, James couldn't keep the smile off of his face, though he did just about manage to hold in the laughter, he knew laughing at the moment _really_ wouldn't help the situation, but still, the smile itself was enough for Remus to take a sharp intake of breath, a look of complete fear (and, was that _anger_?) on his face.

Backtracking quickly, James attempted to be pre-emptive towards the reaction Remus was sure to come out with in mere seconds. "Look, Moony, I'm actually quite glad. I mean, you've both been complete idiots about this whole thing, I'm not going to lie, but..." James sighed, "But, just let me talk to him. We can sort this out. And trust me. He _really_ doesn't hate you. Not at all. So, please, please, please, just let me talk to him. I won't tell him, I promise, but, I think I may be able to sort all of this shit out. Please?"

James waited for Remus' minute nod before moving off the bed, and walking towards his trunk. "I won't be long, mate," he added, once he had retrieved the map, searching it for the little black dot marked _'Sirius Black'_, "really, this'll be sorted out before you know it." With a final grin to the werewolf, who, though looking apprehensive, was definitely looking happier than he had when James had entered the room, he unlocked the door, and headed out to find Sirius.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, again!


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